Headlight control for automobiles



-A. MATTSON ET AL HEADLIGHT CONTOL VF'Ol'i AUTOMOBILES Filed ADril, 1923 Shee-Sheet l' NVEJs/Tan- @M/fm@ gauw' .BY an.. .i

A. MATTSON ET AL HEADLIGHT CONTROL FOR AU'ro'MoBlmasl Filed Avril 5,

1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. Z, 1924.

UNITED STATESy PATENT OFFICE.

ANTON MAT'ISON, OF MINNEAPOLIS, AND FRED L. DOUD, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

I-IEADLIGHT CONTROL FOR AUTOMOBILES.

Application led April 3,

To aZZwLom t may concern.'

Be itv known that we, ANTON MATrsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennpin and State of Minnesota, and FRED L. OUD, a

y citizen of the United States, residing at St.

Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Headlight Control for Automobiles, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to headlight control devices for motor driven vehicles and the object is to provide a simple, reliable and eiiicient device by means of which the two headlights of an automobile are always direc-ted to throw light forward of the car in the direction the front wheels of it are moving. A further objectis to provide means for simultaneously tipping the headlights in a vertical plane for the purpose of throwing beams of light on the road forward of the car at variable distances without throwing a glaring light in the eyes of pedestrians.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a front view oi' an automobile with our invention applied to its headlights.

Fig. 2 is a left side elevation of the automobile illustrated in Fig. 1, the lett front wheel and fender being omitted to disclose our device.

Fig. 3 is a top view of the front left side portion of Fig. 1 with the left front wheel restored.

Fig. 4L is an enlarged top view ot the left haltl of our device which turns and tilts the headlights of an auto, some minor parts being omitted. n

Fig. 5 is a partly sectional front elevation of Fig. 4C and a part of a headlight in operative position.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section on line 6 6A in Fig. 5 showing the headlight turning and tilting mechanism.

Fig. 7 is a top view of the upper portion of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional detail of the dash board 17 and showing the rear end of the headlight tipping rod of our device.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged detail view ot the washer 33 in Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings by reference numerals, QR and 9L are, respectively, the iront right and lett wheels of an auto having corresponding mud guards lOR and 10L column and 2O the worm gear housing in whichis the usual worm mechanism (not shown) operating the steering arm 21 (see Fig. 2) in a vertical plane in longitudinal direction of the car, and 22 are the two front headlights in the customary location between the radiator and the mud guards.

In our device each headlight has its pedestal 23 secured, as at 24 in Figs. 1, 5 and 7, to the arms 24b of' a horizontally disposed T- shaped member 24, the T having its leg 241c projecting rearwardly, the rear ends ot said egs 24.0 are connected by a rod 25 pivotally secured as at 26. Said member 2-1 has a vertically disposed, integral, downwardly extending shank 27 rotatably held in a vertically disposed cylindrical casting 2S having two oppositely arranged stub shafts 29 adapted to oscillate in bearings 30 of a U- shaped metal frame 31, said oscillating movement being in a vertical plane longitudinally of the car.

The member 2S has an upper, small bore to receive shank 27 oit member 211 and its lever portion has an enlarged bore 32 A(see Fig. 6) the bottom of which is engaged by a non-rotat-able washer 33, the shaiikr27 being threaded within said bore and has a key slot 34 engaged by a lip 33a (see Fig. 9). 5% is a nut adapted to hold the washer' 33 in contact with the bottom of the enlarged bore 32. The lower end of member 28 has two diametrcally opposite arms 28n yfacing similar cams 2S" of a member' 36 adapted to close the lower end of member 28 and has square bore through which extends the correspondingly shaped lower portion 27a of shank 27, the latter terminating in a 'reduced threaded portion 271 for a nut 27. A compression coil spring 37 encircles the shank portion 27a and is partly compressed between the member 36 and a washer 38 resting on the nut 27C. The latter' nut serves to regulate the compression of the spring to such a degree that the cams 28a, 28b at all times tend to turn and hold the headlights in a straight, forwardly facing position.

By moving the connecting rod 25 endwise either to left or right, by means operatively connected with the steering arm 2l, the

headlights may be turned as the auto is turned, overcoming the pressure' `of the springs 37. The means used for this purpose and theV means for tilting the twohead vlights in a vertical direction simultaneously,

i secure on said shaft an eccentric 42 engaging an eccentric strap 43 he ving a-n upwardly extending rod 43a pivotally secured at 44aL to an arm 44 on the reary side of the cylindrical member 28.v VIt will be readily understood that whenV the lshaft 40 is oscillated the eccentric will move the arm l43 in a ver-tical plane and arm 44 of member 28 will rock the latter in its bearings 30 and consequently the headlights will be rocked vertically. The oscillating of shaft 40 is accomplished by a rocker arm45 keyed on the shaft within either of the rectangular frames 39 (see Fig. 4) and extending upwardly therefrom its upper end pivotally connected to the front end of a rod46 extending rearwardly through the dash-board 17 and terminating withinV reach ofthe driver. A plate 47 (see Fig. 8) may be secured on the dash-board, andthe bar 46 may be notched as at 46a, in Fig. 8, on its under side to engagethe upper edge of the plate. Thus the driver may push or pull on the rod 46 to adjust the headlights vertically to any desired angle and then drop the bar on the upper edge of the plate 47 which engages one of the notches and holds the rod until the driver wishes to make another adjustment.

rlhe means for turning the headlights horizontally in the direction which the front wheels are headed, will vary according` to the type of steering gear used, but we have illustrated the type in which the steering arm 21 oscillates vin' a vertical plane longitudinally of `the auto, any varia-tion required for other types of steering gear we consider merely ay mechanicall equivalent and `ekpedient which will come undervthe scope and spirit of our invention. y

Thesteering arm 21 is suitably connected to the rear end of a drag-link 48, the front end of which is connected to the steering arm 49a of one of the steering wheel knuckles 49, each of the latterv having :a

skein 50 for its front wheel (see Figs. 1, 2

and 49b are thefusual arms of thesteering knuckles connected by the cross link 51.

vOn' the under .side of the .leg 24c of one of the T-shapedmembers 24 is provided a lug-24f1 straddled by the forked forward end 52? of a lever 52, which by a pin 53 through it and t-he lug, forms a. ljoint allowing the .'v-lamp support 24-2424b to tilt without ltilting theflever 52. The rear end of said lever 52 is flattened and has a longitudinal slot 52b` (see Fig. 7) engaged by a lvertically disposed end 54a of a. lever 54 onkthe upper 'end of a vertically disposed shaft55 journaled in brackets v5(5 57 suitably secured onthe auto frame channel 12 (see Figs.`1,` 2 and3). v The lower end of said y' shaft 55 has another radial arm 55t with a ball join-t 58 connecting it with the forward end of a link 59. 4The rear end of said link 59 is pivotally secured at 59il to the steering arm 21 (Figs. 1, 2 and 3)'. Thus, for example, when the auto is being turned to the right thefsteering arm 21 will move inthe direc-tion of arrow 60 (Fig. 2) pulling rod 59 rearwardly and rotating shaft 55 and its upper arm 54 so that the end of the latter engaging the slotted part of 'arm 52 on the lamp turning mechanism will turn said arm (52) to the left andthe headlight being mounted forward A thereof will be turned to throw its light Itoward the right and in the direction the front wheels of the car are headed (see dotted lines ofthe left handffront wheel and corresponding position of headlight in Fig. It will be readily understood that in the above described turning, the square part 27a of shaft 27 under each headlight will force the cam-likey member 36 to be forced down on the angular lower faces of member 28, thus forcing the cam member downwardly from the upper member, but this is permitted by the yielding ofthe coil spring 37. When the front. ground wheels are being returned to their normal straight posit-ion the springs 37 will force the cam members 36 back -to their original position. 61V in Figs. 1 and 5, are brackets, either formed integral lwith the U-frames 31,01l detachably secured thereto. angularly from said U-frame and 4are perforated for rivets 62 or like means for securing the device to theangular faces of the opposite-aprons 11 or to the brackets (not shown) guards.

The operation of our device has yalready y zeon disclosed in the above description but it may be lfurther stated and will befreadily They eXtendf which Support the `front mud seen that with our device headlightgthrow-- ing` concentrated beams of light forward of the car are particularlydesirable. The said beams ofklightrmay be used exclusively to light up the road ahead of the car. No broad sidelight from the headlights is necessary.-

because awide Arange of .light is not needed, the headlights automatically changing the direction of the light as the car is turned. rlhis avoids, unnecessary glare in the eyes of pedestrians or persons in other cars. l/Vith our device the light may be thrown `forward of the car any desired distance, thus readily complying with the various laws in dillerent localities regulating such distances.

lVhat we claim is:

l. In combination a pair of headlights each mounted for vertical. and horizontal. swinging movement, a T-shaped horizontally disposed bracket for supporting each lamp one arm of each bracket extending rearwardly, operative connection between said arms, a vertically disposed shaft on cach bracket rotatably mounted in a vertically tiltable housing, means for simultaneously tiltingl said housings and the lamps supported thereon, means involving a vertically tiltable link pivoted on the T-shaped member Jfor turning the lamps horizontally,

operative connection between said link and the steering mechanism of an automobile for turning the lamps in accordance with the steeringl wheels of the automobile.

2. The structure specified in claim l, in which said vertically tiltable link is pivoted adjacent and parallel to the rearward arm of one of said T-shap-ed brackets, said link having an elongated slot in its rear end, a vertically arranged rock shaft with one rocker arm engaging in said slot, said operative connection with the steering mechanism of an automobile comprising a second rocker arm on said rock shalt and a link connecting said latter arm with a movable part of the steering mechanism.

1n testimony whereof we atlix our signatures.

ANTON MATTSON. FRED L. DUUD. 

